Method and system for displaying social networking navigation information

ABSTRACT

A mapping system associated with a social network includes determining that a social networking map object (“MO”) is outside a visible area of a map displayed; calculating the direction, distance and travel-time to the MO (e.g. a social network member, a location, a meeting place, etc.), creating an object vector indicator (“OVI”) and displaying the OVI on a map-display application. The OVI may be displayed on the periphery of the displayed map and may be positioned in the general direction of the MO. The position of the electronic device, as well as a current position of the MO, are factored into the calculations and placement of the OVI. The OVI may include a graphical representation, obtained from the social network, of the MO it references.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority to,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/151,827 filed on May 8, 2008, titled“Method and System for Displaying Navigation Information on anElectronic Map”. The disclosure of the prior application is consideredpart of and is incorporated by reference in the disclosure of thisapplication.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to social networking andnavigation. More particularly, the present invention relates todisplaying information associated with social-networking map-objects(e.g. points-of-interest, way-points, social gathering places, memberlocations, etc.) that are outside the visible area of a map, within amap-display application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Popular social networking websites include Facebook™, MySpace™,LinkedIn™, Orkut™, Bebo™, Yahoo! 360™, Hi5™, Friendster, Cyworld™,Windows Live Spaces™, etc. A common facet of social networking is theability to display objects of common interest on an electronic map. Forexample, locations of members and meeting places may be displayed on amap. Social-networking related objects, displayed on a map, may bedemarcated by symbols indicating points-of-interest (“POI”), way-points(“WP”), business locations, places of interest, members' residences,members' meeting places, members' current locations, members' places ofemployment, etc. (collectively referred to inhere as map-objects, or(“MO”)) For example, a user may perform a search for members' meetingplaces and the search results may be displayed as symbols on a map,corresponding to the geographic location of the meeting places in theresult set of the search. In another common example, a user may requestdriving directions between social-networking related MOs, in response towhich way-points may be displayed on the map, corresponding togeographic points along the plotted route of the driving direction.

Common mapping-related functionality includes “zoom in” and “zoom out”,which allows the user to see a smaller region at a greater level ofdetail, and a larger region in less detail, respectively. At present,one or more MOs to be displayed on a map may be outside an area of themap visible to the user (e.g. when the user zooms into an area of themap not including the MO.) The user often may not be able to discern thedirection and distance to the MO which is outside the visible area ofthe map, without (1) panning the map in the general direction of the MOuntil the visible area of the map includes the MO, and/or (2) zoomingout until the visible area of the map includes the MO, and/or (3) in thecase of a menu or a hyperlinked-list item referencing the MO, selectingthe reference to the MO from the menu/the hyperlinked list item, inresponse to which the map automatically zooms/pans to include the MO.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides various methods, systems and apparatusfor displaying information related to social networking on an electronicmap. Social-networking related information, collectively referred toinhere as MOs, which are outside a visible area of the map, may bereferenced by displaying object vector indicators (“OVI”.) The visiblearea of the map may be determined by a map-display applicationdisplaying the map. MOs which are outside the visible area of the map(e.g. in response to a user's zooming into an area of the map, orpanning the map—resulting in the exclusion of an area of the mapcontaining a MO; or MOs generated in response to a user's search queryand/or WPs as part of driving directions, etc., which are outside thevisible area of the map) may be referenced by displaying OVIs.

An OVI may be displayed by the map-display application in conjunctionwith the area of the map displayed by the map-display application. Inone embodiment, the OVI may be displayed at the periphery of the area ofthe map. The OVI may include information referencing the MO, as well asinformation on the MO's direction, distance, travel-time to the MO,estimated-time-of-arrival, etc. In various embodiments the MO'sdirection, distance, travel time, etc., may be calculated from thecurrent geographic position of the user (e.g. determined via GPS); oralternatively, from an MO on the area of the map visible to the user,that is closest to the center of the visible area of the map; or fromthe MO selected by the user, etc. The OVI's position may change or bechanged to correlate with the respective positions of the user and theMO referenced by the OVI. Information included in the OVI may change tocorrelate with the respective positions of the user and the MO the OVIreferences. An OVI may include symbols indicating the type of MOreferenced, and may change in appearance, including a change in theinformation the OVI displays, in response to various factors such as achange in the coordinates of the user using the map-display application.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and furtheradvantages thereof, references are now made to the following DetailedDescription, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a generalized block diagram illustrating displaying objectvector indicators (“OVI”) associated with a map which is displayingsocial networking information, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are generalized block diagrams illustrating the creationof OVIs associated with a social network, displaying information on amap on a client device, according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are a generalized block diagrams illustrating theappearance and positioning of object vector indicators (“OVI”),according to various embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are generalized flow diagrams illustrating the creationand displaying of OVIs from data in a social network, according tovarious embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are generalized block diagrams illustrating displayingobject vector indicators (“OVI”) in GPS navigation devices, according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are generalized block diagrams illustrating displayingand utilizing OVIs to move around a map (i.e. pan a map), according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a generalize block diagram illustrating various communicationsbetween a client device and a social network, allowing a map with OVIsto be created and displayed, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C are generalized block diagrams illustratingdisplaying object vector indicators (“OVI”) and utilizing OVIs to panaround a map in an automated fashion, according various embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D and 9E are generalized block diagrams illustratingvarious methods for transitioning a region of a map displayed, inconjunctions with OVIs, to allow a user to visualize the path betweenlocation markers, according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a generalized block diagram illustrating displaying objectvector indicators (“OVI”) associated with a map which is displayingsocial networking information, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. A map display application 100 (e.g. an internetbrowser), on a computing device (e.g. a personal computer, a personaldigital assistant, a cellular phone, etc.) may display a visible area ofa map 106. The visible area of a map 106 may represent a small portionof a much larger virtual map—while the larger virtual map (e.g. theentire globe, continent, state, city, etc.) may be outside the displayarea and not visible to the user, the portion comprising the visiblearea of a map 106, may be visible to the user. The visible area of a map106 may include location markers denoting social networkingpoints-of-interest (“POI”) visible to the user. The map-displayapplication 100 may also include references to location markers outsidea visible area of a map 106.

For example, the user may search a social network with a query“Cafe-Lovers-Meeting-Places” 120. In response to the user query 120, thevisible area of a map 106 may be rendered and a resulting list oflocations 101 may be displayed

In the prior art, the resulting list of locations 101 may includelocation marker identifiers 102 a-102 d, corresponding to the locationmarkers' names and descriptions 104 a-104 d, respectively. The user mayselect a location marker identifier “A” 102 a in response to which thevisible area of a map 106 may re-render and/or zoom and/or pan in amanner allowing the corresponding location marker “A” 108 to be visibleon the visible area of a map 106. The location marker “A” 108 on thevisible area of a map 106 may correspond to the geographic location ofthe address of “Café 123” which is “456 Franklin St. San Francisco,Calif.” 104 a. In prior art, location markers corresponding to locations104 b-104 d, whose geographic coordinates are outside of the visiblearea of a map 106, are not displayed. Thus, the user may be unaware ofthe relative locations and distances of the location markers not visibleon the visible area of a map 106.

In the presently-preferred embodiment of this invention, locationmarkers outside the visible area of a map 106 may be referenced by OVIs,displayed to the user by the map-display application 100. The locationmarker identifiers “B” 102 b, “C” 102 c and “D” 102 d, in the list oflocations 101, may be referenced by the OVIs “B” 114, “C” 112 and “D”116, respectively.

For example, the OVI “D” 116 may reference a remote location marker, notvisible on the visible area of a map 106, corresponding to thegeographic location of the location marker identifier “D” 102 d, atlocation/address/information “1700 Pine St., SF, CA, (415) 555-151,Yahoo: my_best_friend08” 104 d. (A social network may provide memberinformation including name, address, phone number, instant-messenger Id,etc.) Information displayed in the OVI “D” 116 may include a vector(e.g. arrow) pointing in the direction of the referenced remote locationmarker, the distance and travel time to the remote location marker andany other information associated with the location marker identifier(e.g. member's name, phone number, etc.) Similarly, the other OVIs “B”114 and “C” 112 may point to their corresponding remote (i.e. notvisible to the user on the visible are of a map 106) location markersand may contain information about respective distances and travel times.

Please refer to FIGS. 3A-3C for more in-depth discussion of OVIs, thedata they may contain and their placement on the visual display. FIGS.6A and 6B, 8A-8C and 9A-9E describe various embodiments involving OVIsand their use in electronic maps.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are generalized block diagrams illustrating the creationof OVIs associated with a social network, displaying information on amap on a client device, according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2A, block diagram 200 illustrates a system displayingsocial-networking information on a map on a client device, as commonlyimplemented in the prior art. A social networking service 206(comprising one or more servers), may include a data store 208, storingmember profiles, locations, preferences, meeting places information,POIs, etc.

An electronic device 202, used by a member of a social network, maytransmit its geographic location to the social network service 206 forrecording in the data store 208. For example, the electronic device maybe equipped with GPS (or other means of discerning geographic locationsuch as using cellular phone tower triangulation) and periodicallytransmit its location to the social networking service 206.

The social network data store 208 may aggregate information referencingPOIs: meeting places, restaurants, events, stores, etc. A POI 204 maytransmit its geographic location to the social network data store 208;or, in other implementations, a web crawler may be used by the socialnetwork to seek and aggregate geographic locations, or members of thesocial network may submit geo-tagged location information to the socialnetwork 206, etc.

A client device 210 (e.g. personal computer, mobile device, etc.) mayreceive information from the social network 206 and display theinformation in a mapping application 212. The mapping application 212may be a web browsing application or any other application capable ofdisplaying an electronic map containing geographic data, obtained fromthe social network 206. A mapping server 214 (commonly on a network,such as the internet, external to the client device 210; but, may alsobe internal to the client device such as mapping software coupled withDVD ROM) may be used to generate mapping data on the mapping application212.

In one presently-preferred embodiment, an OVI algorithm 216 may beexecuted on the client device 210. The OVI algorithm 216 may becontained in an application, an application module, an object, a DLL, anActiveX control accessible to the mapping/web-browser application 212,or in any other computer code executable by a processor on the clientdevice 210.

The OVI algorithm 216 may receive mapping data from the social network206, from the mapping application 212 and from the mapping server 214.The OVI algorithm 216 may determine both bounds of a map displayed inthe mapping application 212 and the mapping data outside of thedetermined bounds. The OVI algorithm 216 may create OVIs referencing themapping data outside of the determined bounds. The OVIs may be displayedby the map display application 212.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, in an alternate embodiment illustrated indiagram 260, a mapping server 270 may include an OVI algorithm 272. Arecord store 268 of a social networking service 266 may aggregatesocial-networking related data from external sources (e.g. socialnetwork members 262, POIs related to social networking 264, etc.)

A mapping application 276 (e.g. a web browser, a mobile-device mappingapplication, etc.) on a client device 274 may display social networkingmapping data from the social network 266. A mapping server 270, externalto the client device 270, may process mapping data related to the socialnetwork 266. The mapping server 270 may generate a map, or map-relatedgraphics (e.g. mapping tiles, graphical representations of POI displayedon a map, etc.) which is displayed by the mapping application 276 on theclient device 274.

The mapping server 270 may include OVI display algorithm 272. The OVIalgorithm 272 may receive mapping data and determine bounds of a mapdisplayed in the mapping application 276. The OVI display algorithm 272may determine the mapping data outside of the determined bounds. The OVIalgorithm 272 may create OVIs referencing the mapping data outside ofthe determined bounds. The OVIs may be displayed by the map displayapplication 276.

In alternate embodiments of the present invention, individual algorithmsdetermining social-networking related mapping data outside a visible areof a map, creating OVI and displaying the OVIs, may be implemented indifferent places (i.e. be part of different hardware and or softwarecomponents represented in the diagrams 200 and 260.) I anotherembodiment, one ore more OVI algorithms may be implemented as code in amapping application, a map-generating application, a social-networkingrelated application, etc.

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are a generalized block diagrams illustrating theappearance and positioning of object vector indicators (“OVI”),according to various embodiments of the present invention. An OVI 300may be rendered in the form of any geometric shape, e.g. a rectangle,and appear in any color, e.g. where the color and/or the color'sintensity bears a meaning, such as distance or travel time. Informationassociated with the OVI 300 (e.g. a vector 304, an object reference 302,a distance indicator 306, a travel-time indicator 308, etc.) may bedisplayed internally or externally to the OVI 300. In alter embodiments,the OVI 300 may be an image, an animation of images, or any othergraphic.

The manner in which the OVI 300 is displayed, its positioning andinformation it contains, may be set by user preferences or defaults. Theposition of the OVI 300 may vary and may shift in response to variousfactors, such as changing road conditions, the movement of the user ofthe electronic map, etc.

The object reference 302 (e.g. “1”) may be an alpha-numeric characterand/or a symbol identifying the MO referenced by the OVI 300. In analternate embodiment, a single OVI may cycles through referencing morethan one MO, with the object reference 302 indicating the proper MOthroughout the cycle.

The vector 304 may point in the direction of the MO referenced by theOVI 300. The base of the vector 304 may be oriented with an MO visibleto the user. The shape of the vector 304 may be a line with an arrowheadat the end. The orientation of the vector 304 may change in response tothe motion of the user. For example, as the user travels North withrespect to the MO that is due East, the orientation of the vector 304may change such that it rotates clock-wise and keeps pointing at the MO.

In alternate embodiments, physical characterizes of the vector 304, suchas length, thickness, color, etc. may correspond to attributes relatedto the MO referenced by the OVI 300. For example, traveling in thedirection of the MO referenced by the OVI may cause the vector 304 tochange shape, color, blink, etc.

The distance indicator 306 may represent the distance needed to travelto reach the referenced MO. The travel distance may be expressed in anyunit of measurement, such as English, Metric, etc, and may be based onuser preferences, locale settings, distance thresholds (e.g. anydistance less than ½ a mile may be expressed in feet), etc. Variousmethods and algorithms may be used to determine the distance needed totravel (e.g. based on road conditions, method of travel, traffic, etc.)In various embodiments the distance indicator 306 may be in differentcolors or display modes to indicate various states. For example, for amobile user traveling along a path between MOs, deviating from an idealroute may cause the color of the distance indicator 306 to change,flash, etc.

The travel-time indicator 308 may represent the time needed to travel toreach the referenced MO. The travel time may be expressed in variousways, for example based on user preferences, locale settings, timethresholds (e.g. travel time less than ½ a hour may be expressed inminutes), etc. Various methods and algorithms may be used to determinethe time needed to travel (e.g. based on one way roads, road conditions,method of travel, traffic, speed of travel, etc.) In various embodimentsthe travel-time indicator 308 may be in different colors or displaymodes to indicate various states. For example, for a mobile usertraveling along a path between MOs, deviating from an ideal route maycause the color of the travel-time indicator 308 to change, flash, etc.

MO name 310 may identify the name/handle of the social-network member(e.g. “Joe Smith”)/POI represented by the MO. The MO name 310 may beobtained from a social network. The MO name 310 may be displayed in theOVI 300, depending on the size constraints, user preferences and otherlimitations and considerations. In one possible embodiments, the MO name310 may be selectable by the user and in response to the user selection(e.g. via a pointing device, a touch screen, a voice commands, etc.)additional information related to the MO name 310 may be displayed.

Contact information 312 may enable a user to reach (i.e. electronicallytransmit information to) the MO referenced by the OVI 300. For example,the contact information 312 may be a phone number (e.g. “415 555 1212”).In one possible embodiment, the contact information 312 may beselectable by the user and in response to the user selection (e.g. via apointing device, a touch screen, a voice commands, etc.) an electroniccommunication may be established with the referenced MO (e.g. via aphone call, SMS, email, instant message, etc.)

In cases where the position of the MO and/or the position of the clientdevice displaying the MO 300, changes, a synchronization date/time stamp314 may be displayed. For example, if the MO represents a social networkmember using an electronic device enabled to determine and transmit itslocation, the last transmission time of the location of the remotemember's electronic device may be displayed (e.g. “Last sync Sep. 6, 0813:32 PM”.)

In other possible embodiments, other information may be displayed on theOVI 300. Information displayed on the OVI 300 may be displayed invarying colors, font sizes and as various different graphicalrepresentations.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, a map-display application 350 may display amap 351. The map display application 350 may have two borders: thephysical border of the display 352 (e.g. the edges of the LCD displaybeyond which no data can be displayed) and a displayed border 354,confining the map 351. A region 353 between the display-border 354 andthe physical border 352, may be used to display additional information.In another embodiment, the display-border 354 may not exist, or mayoverlap the physical border 352.

A location marker 356 may be displayed on the map 351. Other locationmarkers may exist outside the visible area of the map 351. For example,a location marker “2” (not shown) may exist north-west of the locationmarker “1” 356 on the map 351, outside the visible area of the map 351.In one possible embodiment, an OVI 360 a may reference the locationmarker “2”, positioned externally to the visible map 351. The OVI 360 amay be displayed on the map 351, and may be bound by the display-border354. According to this one possible embodiment, the OVI 360 a may bepositioned in close proximity to—or touching—the display-border 354.

In this one presently-preferred embodiment, the position of the OVI 360a may change along the “x” axis 358 a and “y” axis 358 b. For example,when the map 351 is displayed while “in motion” (i.e. the user of theelectronic device displaying the map 351 is moving and/or the referencedlocation marker “2” is in motion) the OVI 360 a may be repositionedalong the “x” axis 358 a, in response to a relative East-West movement;and along the “y” axis 358 b in response to a relative North-Southmovement—within the confines of display-border 354.

In an alternate preferred embodiment, an OVI 360 b may be displayed ontop of the display-border 354 (e.g. the display-border 354 may bisectthe OVI 360 b.). A portion of the OVI 360 b may be displayed on top ofthe map 351, another portion may be displayed on top of thedisplay-border 354 and another portion may be displayed over the region353. In response to a relative change in the position of the referencedMO (e.g. a location marker “3”—not shown—referenced by the OVI 360 b)the OVI 360 b may move East-West, along the “x” axis 358 d, and/orNorth-South, along the “y” axis 358 c.

Referring now to FIG. 3C, in another alternate embodiment, an OVI 360 c(e.g. referencing a MO “4”—not shown—external to the map 351, South-Westof the location marker 356) may be displayed on the map 351. The OVI 360c may be positioned along an imaginary line 374 a, spanned between thelocation marker “1” 356 and the MO “4” (not shown).

In one possible embodiment, the positioning of the OVI 360 c along thelength “D” 372 of the imaginary line 374 a may be proportionate to thereal-life distance between the geographic location denoted by thelocation marker “1” 356 and the MO denoted by the location marker “4”(not shown.), on a different scale from the scale of the map 351. Thelength “D” of the imaginary line 374 a may be defined as the distancebetween the location marker “1” 356 and the intersection point of theimaginary line 374 a with the display-frame 354.

For example, the map 351 may be displayed on a scale where 1 inch=100miles (as indicated by a scale 380.) The distance from the locationmarker “1” 356 to the referenced MO “4” may be 1,000 miles in thisexample (as indicated by the distance measurement in the OVI 360 c.) Thedistance “D” 372—being the length of the imaginary line 374 a—mayrepresent a larger scale, for example, 1 inch=600 miles. Thus thedistance “D” 372 of the imaginary line 374 a may represent about 2,000miles (approximately 3 inches on the map 351.) In this example, thepositioning of the OVI 360 c approximately at the half-way point of theimaginary line 374 a, may serve as a visual indicator to the user thatthe invisible referenced MO “4” may be approximately 1,000 miles away.The repositioning of the OVI 360 c along the imaginary line 374 a,North-West in the direction of the location marker “1” 356, may serve asa visual indicator to the user that the invisible referenced MO “4” isgetting closer to the location marker “1” 356 and thereby closer to theuser and closer to being visible on the map 351.

An imaginary arched path 374 b, at a radius “R1” 370 from the locationmarker “1” 356, may be followed by the OVI 360 c as the invisiblereferenced MO “4” moves around the location marker “1” 356. For example,if the user standing at a geographic location represented by thelocation marker “1” 356 makes a complete 360 degree turn clockwise, theOVI 360 c may sweep along the arc 374 b in a counter-clockwisedirection, maintaining the radius “R1” 370 as the distance. R1 mayincrease or decrease in relation to the change in the distance betweenthe location marker “1” 356 and the invisible referenced MO “4”, asdiscussed in the previous paragraph.

In alternate embodiments, various other methods and visualrepresentations may be used to reference MOs external to the map 351,without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are generalized flow diagrams illustrating the creationand displaying of OVIs from data in a social network, according tovarious embodiments of the present invention. A map-display application,running on a digital device may be connected to a mapping server. Forexample, an internet browser on a personal computer/laptop/tablet PC,etc., connected to a mapping service such as Google® Maps, Yahoo!® Maps,Windows® Live Search Maps etc.; a GPS navigation unit such as Garmin®,Magellan®, TomTom® etc. connected to a local mapping server/databasesuch as a mapping DVD or to a remote mapping server and displaying a mapthrough a proprietary map-display application; a cellular/smart phonedisplaying mapping data through an internet browsing application or amapping application, etc.

Flowchart 400 illustrates a methodology for displaying OVIs by amap-display application. Upon a triggered event in the map-displayapplication (e.g. in response to a change in zoom/pan, change in datacausing a “redraw” or “refresh” command to execute by the map-displayapplication or in response to user input, a programmable “event”, newdata from the social network such as a remote user's device reporting anew location, etc.) a map is displayed and OVIs are created to referenceMOs outside the visible area of the map. In the flow 400 all MOs to bedisplayed on a map (e.g. MOs obtained from a social network) may betraversed and every MO may either be displayed as a location maker—ifits location is in the visible area of the map—or as an OVI—if itslocation is not in the visible area of the map.

At step 402, a first MO may be identified. MOs may be data points in asocial network designed to be displayed on a map. For example, streetlocations of meeting places, current locations of mobile social-networkmembers, etc. The first MO might be the first of any number of MOsdemarcated on a map via location markers.

At step 404, it may be determined whether the MO is within the visiblearea of a map. The determination may be made by calculating thegeographic bounds of the region of the map displayed by the map-displayapplication, and determining whether the geographic (e.g.longitude/latitude) coordinates of the MO are within the bounds of thevisible area of the map (please note that this type of determination iswell established in prior art, as map-display applications determinewhat geographic locations are to be displayed.)

If it is determined at step 404 that the MO is within the bounds of thevisible area of the map, at step 406 the MO may be displayed on thevisible area of the map of the map-display application. At step 412, thenext MO is identified and at step 414 the process is repeated until allMOs have been displayed on the map. Steps 404, 406, 412 and 414 may berepeated until all MOs have been traversed.

If it is determined at step 404 that the MO is not within the bounds ofthe visible area of the map, at step 408 an OVI may be created toreference the MO. (Please refer to FIG. 4B illustrating the creation ofan OVI.)

At step 410, the OVI created at step 408 may be displayed. The OVI maybe displayed in numerous ways. Please refer to the discussion of FIGS.3A-3C for OVI display embodiments.

At step 412, the next MO may be identified. Step 412 may also beexecuted following step 406.

If at step 412 another valid MO is identified, step 414 may revert tostep 404, examining the new MO identified at step 412. If at step 414 itis determined no valid MO has been identified at step 412 (i.e. all MOshave been traversed) at step 416 the logic of the flow 400 may end.

Please note that in one embodiment, steps 404, 406, 412 and 414 may beimplemented, while in other embodiments the additional steps 408 and 410may be implemented.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, steps 450-460 are an illustration of smallersteps comprising the “create OVI” step 408 in FIG. 4A.

At step 450, the current location of the electronic device displayingthe map-displayed application, may be obtained (e.g. via the use of GPSnavigation, cellular phone triangulation, etc.) In an alternateembodiment, the geographic location of a MO on the map (e.g. the MO atthe center of the map) may be considered to be the current location.

At step 452, the location of the MO (identified at step 412 anddetermined to not be within the visible area of the map of themap-display application at step 404 of FIG. 4A), may be determined.

At step 454, a vector from the current location determined at step 450to the location of the MO determined at step 452, may be computed. Thevector (e.g. an arrow) may represent the direction and distance betweenthe current location and the location of the MO.

At step 456, the travel distance between the current location determinedat step 450 and the location of the MO determined at step 452, may becomputed. The algorithm for computing the travel distance may be basedon the medium of travel (i.e. by foot, car, etc.), the optimal choosingof roads, user preferences, etc.

At step 458, the travel time between the current location determined atstep 450 and the location of the MO determined at step 452, may becomputed. The algorithm for computing the travel time may be based onthe medium of travel, the optimal choosing of roads, user preferences,traffic and weather conditions, etc.

At step 460, the placement of the OVI on the map-display application maybe determined. Please refer to FIGS. 3A-3C for a more completediscussion of various embodiments for placing an OVI in a map-displayapplication.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are generalized block diagrams illustrating displayingobject vector indicators (“OVI”) in GPS navigation devices, according toone embodiment of the present invention. GPS navigation devices (e.g.used in car navigation) may display way-points (“WP”) orpoints-of-interest (“POI”) collectively referred to inhere asmap-objects (“MO”). In association with social networking, GPSnavigation devices may display MOs denoting the locations of places ofinterest, present locations of mobile members, etc.

In the prior art, only MOs within the bounds of a visible portion of amap are displayed. MOs outside the bounds of the visible portion of themap are not displayed. A MO that is the next way-point or destination intravel directions, may be referenced. For example, referring to FIG. 5A,a GPS navigation device 500 may display a visible area of a map 508 in amap-display application 506. A direction-indicator 507A and a distanceindicator 507 b may reference the next MO along a travel route. However,no other MOs are referenced, in the prior art.

In one preferred embodiment of this invention, OVIs 512, 514 and 516 maybe displayed by the map-display application 506, referencing MOs whichare outside the area of the map 508 visible to the user through themap-display application 506. The OVI 512 may display informationreferencing a MO “1” outside the visible area of the map 508. The OVI512 may indicate the direction of the MO it references (e.g. via anarrow), the distance to the MO (e.g. “700 ft”) and the travel time tothe MO (e.g. “5 min.”)

An OVI may display a symbol indicating the nature of the MO itreferences, along with other relevant information, such as the distance,etc. For example, the OVI 514 may include a prominent symbol related toeating—such as a knife and fork—which may indicate and social networkgathering place/restaurant. The OVI 516 may display a prominent symbolof a person, indicating a location/position of a social network member.In various possible embodiments, the symbol of the person may be anicon, an image of the social network member, etc.

The distance indicators in the OVIs 512, 514 and 516 may be measuredfrom the current location of the vehicle/user, commonly indicated by asymbol 510 on the map 508. In response to a change in the location ofthe vehicle/user, the positioning of the OVIs 512, 514 and 516, andinformation the OVIs contain (e.g. distance), may change. The OVIs 512,514 and 516 may be displayed on the periphery of the map-displayapplication 506. In one embodiment, the map-display application 506 maycontain a physical border 502 (i.e. the physical edge of the display)and a display-border 504 (i.e. the edges of the visible area of the map508.) The OVIs 512, 514 and 516 may be displayed overlaying thedisplay-border 504 (i.e. extending farther towards the physical border502 than the visible area of the map 508, which may be confined towithin the border 504.) In alternate embodiments, the OVIs may bedisplayed in various other ways, as illustrated and discussed in FIGS.3A-3C.

Referring now to FIG. 5B, a GPS navigation device 550 may display agraphic 570, which may correlate to a physical map, from the perspectiveof a driver. In prior art, a MO 571 (e.g. a location marker with asymbol for a restaurant) may be displayed by the graphic 570,representing the approximate location of the MO, from the perspective ofthe viewer (i.e. the driver.) The MO 570 must be within thefield-of-view of the user (i.e. driver) albeit at a certain distance(i.e. down-the-road.)

In the present embodiment, OVIs 558 and 560 may be displayed by amap-display application 556, to indicate MOs not visible on the graphic570 (i.e outside the field-of-view of the user/driver.). The placementof OVIs may be computed such that, from the perspective of theuser/viewer/driver, the top of the display frame 552 may be considered“in front”; the left and right sides of the display frame 552 may beconsidered “left of” and “right of”, respectively; and the bottom of thedisplay frame 552 may be considered “behind”.

As a vehicle that mat be associated with the GPS navigation device 550,in this example, moves and its own position is recomputed, the OVIs 558and 560 may be repositioned accordingly. In this example, the OVI “1”558, positioned along the right side of the display border 552, mayindicate its referenced MO is to the right of the vehicle (i.e. of theGPS navigation device 550), outside the user/viewer/driver'sfield-of-view. Information associated with the OVI 558 (e.g. direction,distance, time-of-arrival, etc.) may be displayed inside of—or in closeproximity to—the OVI 558. Similarly, the OVI “2” 560, positionedleft-of-center along the top of the display border 552, may indicate theMO (e.g. a social network member “Chris”) the OVI “2” 560 references isto-the-left of the vehicle (i.e. of the GPS navigation device 550).

In alternate embodiments other methods of displaying OVIs in GPSnavigation units may be employed. OVIs may bear different shapes,colors, move in different directions, contain various differentinformation, etc.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are generalized block diagrams illustrating displayingand utilizing OVIs to move around a map (i.e. pan a map), according toone embodiment of the present invention. Electronic devices, displayingdigital maps, commonly allow a user to interface with the map via inputs(e.g. a touch screen, a computer mouse, a keyboard, buttons, voiceinterface, etc.)

In the presently-preferred embodiment, a MO (e.g. a social-networkingrelated location marker) which is visible to the user on a region of amap, may alter its form to an OVI, referencing the MO, in response to ashift (e.g. a pan) of the region of the map, such that the MO is nolonger visible on the region of the map. For example, a location markermay be displayed on a region of a map. The region of the map may shiftright, in response to a user's panning the map to the left. The locationmarker may shift right with the rest of the region of the map,maintaining its geographic position. Once the region of the map hasshifted right sufficiently for the location marker to become invisibleto the user, the location marker may be replaced with an OVI,referencing the theoretical position of the location marker (nowinvisible to the user.)

Referring to FIG. 6A, a map-display application 600, running on anelectronic device (e.g. a computer, a personal digital assistant, amobile device, a GPS navigation unit, etc.) may display a map region 602a. The map region 602 a may include one or more location markers, suchas a location marker “2” 604 a. The map-display application may displayone or more OVIs, referencing map objects (“MO”) that are not visible tothe user of the map-display application 600.

In this example, an OVI 608, displayed South/South-East of the locationmarker “2” 604 a, on the periphery of the map region 602 a, may containthe information “3, 2 mi, 20 min”, referencing a location marker labeled“3” which is 2 miles and a 20 minute travel time, due South/South-Eastof the location marker “2” 604 a. Similarly, an OVI 606 a, displayedEast of the location marker “2” 604 a, on the periphery of the mapregion 602 a, may contain the information “1, 500 ft, 3 min”,referencing a location marker labeled “1” which is 500 feet and a3-minute travel time, due East of the location marker “2” 604 a.

In the presently-preferred embodiment, the user may use an input device(e.g. the illustrated “hand/finger” 610, a stylus, a button, a keyboard,a mouse, voice instructions, etc) to select an OVI. Selecting an OVI maycause the map region displayed in the map-display application 600 to pansuch that the selected OVI is visible in the new map region displayed.In another preferred embodiment, the new map region may be displayed(i.e. panned to) such that the geographic location indicated by the OVIselected is centered in the new map region displayed. In alternateembodiments, selecting an OVI may pan and zoom a map such that thevisible map region includes both the originally-centered location markerand the newly-selected location marker, referenced by the selected OVI.

In this example, selecting the OVI “1” 606 a may cause the map region602 a and the OVIs 606 a and 608, displayed by the map-displayapplication 600, to change. Referring now to FIG. 6B, in response to theuser's selecting (e.g. by clicking on) the OVI “1” 606 a, the originalmap region 602 a, displayed by the map-display application 600, may bepanned to form a map region 602 b. The map region 602 b may be centeredaround the location marker “1” 606 b. The location marker “1” 606 b mayhave taken the form of the OVI “1” 606 a while outside of the map region602 a.

Accordingly, the location marker “2” 604 a. (see FIG. 6A), not visibleon the map region 602 b, may be referenced by a new OVI “2” 604 b,indicating the invisible location marker “2” is 500 ft and a3-minute-travel time due West from the visible location marker “1” 606b.

When the location maker “1” 606 b becomes at the center of the mapregion 602 b, the position OVI “3” 608 and information it contains, maychange. In FIG. 6A, while the location marker “2” 604 a was at thecenter of the map region 602 a, the OVI “3” 608 displayed a distance of2 miles, a travel time of 20 minutes and a direction vector ofSouth/South-East. Referring back to FIG. 6B, with the geographic shift(from the map region 602 a to the map region 602 b) of 500 feet due Westfrom the location marker “2” 604 a, to the location marker “1” 606 bbeing at the center of the new map region 602 b, the informationdisplayed by the OVI “3” 608 may be change. The OVI “3” 608 may nowdisplay a new distance of 2.1 miles, a new travel-time of 21 minutes anda direction vector of South/South-West.

Please note that in this example, the travel-time differences areillustrated as being dependent strictly on vector geometry, whereas in areal implementation of the presently-preferred embodiment of thisinvention, travel time may vary and be calibrated according to roadconditions, traffic patterns, etc.

The panning of a map to display a location marker at the map's center,referenced by a selected OVI, may be accomplished in various ways indifferent embodiments. In one possible embodiment, the map mayinstantaneously change from displaying the “original map”, with theoriginal location marker at its center, to displaying the “new map”,with the location marker referenced by the OVI selected, at the centerof the new map. In alternate embodiments, the transition of the mapregions displayed may be slowed down and/or animated (please see furtherdiscussion of these embodiments in FIGS. 8A-8C and 9A-9C.)

FIG. 7 is a generalize block diagram illustrating various communicationsbetween a client device and a social network, allowing a map with OVIsto be created and displayed, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. A client device 704 may receive input from a user 702, a GPSsource 706, a mapping service 708 and a social network 710. The clientdevice 704 may then display a map and create and display OVIsreferencing map objects outside the visible arte of the map.

The client device 704 (e.g. a mobile device, a personal computer, anavigation system, etc.) may receive user input (e.g. via a touchscreen, from an input device, via a voice command, etc.) and inresponse, the client device 704 may display/alter-the-display-of anelectronic map. For example, a user may invoke a “map command” 720,instructing the device 704 to display a map. In another example, theuser may select a “community filter” command 722, requesting thatsocial-network information be retrieved and re-displayed on a map. Inanother example, the user may select a “search” command 724, causing theretrieval of new map-able information over the network, and are-rendering of a map on the client device 702.

The GPS source 706 (which may be external or internal to the clientdevice 704, or may generally be a means for the client device 704 toacquire its geographic location) may transmit geographic coordinates tothe client device 704. The client device 704 may transmit its locationto the social network 710 (e.g. periodically, in response to anelectronic request by the social network 710, in response to a changethe in the client device's 704 location, etc.)

The social networking system 710 (e.g. computer servers used by a socialnetwork) may aggregate information related to POIs and members. Forexample, the social network system 710 may contain the geographiclocations/coordinate of meetings places, members' residences, etc. Aremote user's device 712 may transmit to the social networking system710 the coordinates of the remote device 712 (i.e. of the user using theremote device 712.) For example, the remote device 712 may be a mobiledevice that transmits its geographic location to the social networkingsystem 710 (e.g. the transmission may be periodic, invoked by the userof the device, transmitted in response to an event such as a requestfrom the social networking system, etc.)

The client device 704 may transmit an electronic communication 730 tothe social network 710. For example, in response to the user's mappingcommand 720, a change in the user's community filter parameters 722, anupdate to a search query 724, a change in the location of the clientdevice 726, as an automatic periodic transmission, etc. The socialnetwork 710 may transmit map-able information 732 (e.g. locations ofsocial network members, POIs, events, etc.) to the client device 704(e.g. in response to a transmission 730 from the client device 704, atan automatic periodic interval, in response to a change in any of themap-able information, or in response to any other event.)

In the presently-preferred embodiment, the client device 704 maytransmit map-able information 734 to a mapping server 708 and receiveback from the mapping server 708 an electronic map 736. The mappingserver 708 may be external to the client device 704; or, in alternateembodiments, may be a hardware and/or software component of the clientdevice 704. In alternate embodiments, the mapping server 708 may be partof the social network 710 such that the map is received by the clientdevice 704 from the social network 710.

In the prior art, the client device 704 displays the map 738. Map-ableinformation outside the visible area of the map is not displayed to theuser, and is not referenced on the displayed map.

In the presently-preferred embodiment, in addition to displaying the map738 to the user, OVIs referencing MOs outside the visible area of themap are created and displayed 740. A determination of the MOs, containedin the map-able information 732, outside the map 738, may be made. OVIsreferencing the determined MOs may be created. The OVIs may be displayedin association with the displayed map.

In alternate possible embodiments, the process of determining, creatingand displaying the OVIs 740 may be divided into smaller processes whichmay be executed separately from each other. In other embodiments, one ormore of the processes may be executed externally to the client device704 (e.g. by the mapping server 708.)

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C are generalized block diagrams illustratingdisplaying object vector indicators (“OVI”) and utilizing OVIs to panaround a map in an automated fashion, according various embodiments ofthe present invention. In response to a user's selection of an OVI, amap-display application may zoom and/or pan the map, transitioning theview from displaying an area including one location marker, todisplaying an area including another location marker, referenced by theselected OVI.

Referring to FIG. 8A, a map-display application 801 may display amap-region 802 a of a map 800. The map 800 may be invisible to the user,except the area comprising the map-region 802 a (the cross-hatching inFIGS. 8A-8C signifies portions of the map 800 not visible to the user.)The dimensions of the map-region 802 a may be determined by the zoomlevel of the map-display application 801, the dimensions of themap-display application 801 etc. The map-region 802 a may be the onlyportion of the map 800 visible to the user, through the map-displayapplication 801. Other portions of the map 800, outside of themap-region 802 a, may not be visible to the user. A location marker 810located on a portion of the map 800 outside of the map-region 802 a, maynot be visible to the user.

A location marker “2” 806 may be displayed on the map-region 802 a, forexample, to denote a way-point or landmark in the geographic locationcorresponding to the location of the location marker 806. One or moreremote location markers on the map 800 may not be visible to the user ofthe map-display application 801. For example, the location marker “1”810 may not be visible to the user.

OVIs may be displayed in the map-display application 801, indicating tothe user the direction—as well as other relevant information, such asdistance, travel time, etc.—of the location markers not visible (e.g.the location marker “1” 810.)

In prior art, the user viewing the map-region 802 a in the map-displayapplication 801, may not know the direction and distance to theinvisible location marker “1” 810. In order to bring the location marker“1” 810 into view in the map-display application 801, the user has to(1) pan the map 800 in the general direction of the location marker 810until the visible portion of the map 800 includes the location marker810, and/or (2) zoom out until the visible portion of the map 800includes the location marker 810, and/or (3) in the case of menureferencing the location marker 810, selecting the reference to thelocation marker 810 from the menu causing the portion of the map 800including the location marker 810 to become visible in the map-displayapplication 801.

In the presently-preferred embodiment, the user may select an OVI and inresponse, the map-display application may perform a series of autonomoussteps. The user may select the OVI “1” 808 (e.g. by clicking on it witha pointing device, by touching it through a touch screen, via a voiceinstruction, etc.) In response, referring now to FIG. 8B, themap-display application 801 may zoom-out and/or pan the map 800, suchthat the map-region 802 b (i.e. the portion of the map 800 displayedthrough map-display application 801) may include both the locationmarker “2” 806 and the location marker “1” 810. In an alternateembodiment, the map 800 may be zoomed and/or panned in such manner thatthe map-display application 801 may display a minimal map-region 820 ofthe map 800, with the location markers 806 and 810 at its borders (theminimal map-region 820 may be defined as the smallest area of the map800 inclusive of all location markers, i.e. 806 and 810.)

Referring now to FIG. 8C, the map-display application 801 may display amap-region 802 c of the map 800. The map-region 802 c may include thelocation marker 810. In one possible embodiment, the location marker 810may be centered on the map-region 802 c. An OVI 812 may reference (i.e.point to and provide information including distance, travel time, etc.)the location marker “2” 806. The location marker “2” 806 may beinvisible in the map-display application 801 in FIG. 8C.

Please note that the examples in FIGS. 8A-8C show three distinct states:a map showing one location marker and one OVI, a map showing bothlocation markers and no OVIs, and a map showing the other locationmarker and another OVI, pointing to the first location marker. Thesethree distinct states are used for illustrative purposes only. In apreferred implementation, more states may be possible and the transitionfrom one state to the next may be gradual, animated and/or time-delayed.For example, a user clicking on an OVI on a map, containing a locationmarker, may cause the map to slowly zoom and/or pan until the locationmarker referenced by the OVI is visible, in addition to the firstlocation marker. The map may then proceed to zoom and/or pan such thatthe original location marker is no longer visible but is referenced by anew OVI, and the location marker referenced by the first OVI, isvisible. FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate other methods of visual map transitionin alternate embodiments.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D and 9E are generalized block diagrams illustratingvarious methods for transitioning a region of a map displayed, inconjunctions with OVIs, to allow a user to visualize the path betweenlocation markers, according to various embodiments of the presentinvention. In response to a user's selection of an OVI, a map-displayapplication may zoom and/or pan the map, transitioning the view fromdisplaying a map-region including one location marker, to displaying amap-region including another location marker, referenced by the selectedOVI. The map-display application transition may follow variousgeographic routes and may automatically return to displaying the initialmap-region.

Referring to FIG. 9A, a map-display application 901 may display amap-region 910 a of a map 900, which may be invisible to the user (thecross-hatching in FIGS. 9A-9E signifies portions of the map 900 notvisible to the user through the map-display application 901.) Themap-display application 901 may contain a location marker “2” 902,displayed overlaying the map-region 910 a, and an OVI “1” 904 a. The OVI904 a may reference a remote location marker “1” 906, outside thevisible map-display region 910 a. The map 900 may be a street map, asatellite image or any other type of electronic map.

In response to a user's input selecting the OVI 904 a (e.g. via a touchscreen, via an electronic imputer device, via voice-activation, etc.) anautomatic transition of the region of the map 900 displayed by themap-display application 901, may be initiated. The transition may helpthe user visualize the geography and path from the location marker “2”902 visible to the user, to the remote location marker “1” 906,invisible to the user and referenced by the OVI “1” 904 a.

In one possible preferred embodiment, illustrated by sequence in FIGS.9A, 9B and 9D, the transition may be along a linear path. In thisembodiment, the visible region of the map 900, shown in the map-displayapplication 901, may transition along a straight geographic path. Inalternate embodiments, described in the sequence of FIGS. 9A, 9C and 9D,the transition may follow a street-path.

Referring now to FIG. 9B, the map 900 may be transitioned through themap-display application 901 along a straight imaginary line 920 a, fromthe location marker “2” 902 to the location marker “1” 906. Throughoutthe transition of the map 900, the location marker “2” 902 and thelocation marker “1” 906, remain known to the user (i.e. the user isaware of the locations of these location markers, whether or not theyare visible on the portion of the map shown in the map-displayapplication.) In a case where the transition causes the map-displayapplication 901 to display a map-region 910 b which does not include thelocation markers, OVIs may be displayed. For example, the map-region 910b does not include the location makers 902 and 906, so an OVI 912 b maybe displayed with information referencing the invisible location marker902 and an OVI 904 b may be displayed with information referencing theinvisible location marker 906. The OVIs 904 b and 912 b may be displayedin a positioning aligning them with the imaginary line of transition 920a.

Referring now to FIG. 9C, in an alternate embodiment, the map 900 may betransitioned through the map-display application 901 along a path 920 bresembling real-life travel routes. For example, the path 920 b mayfollow a route recommended by a guidance service (e.g. a GPS navigationdevice, a mapping website enabled for computing and displayingdirections, etc.) In various other embodiments, the user may be offeredto choose from one or more alternative routes. The routes may becomputed based on real-time road and traffic conditions, etc. The speedwith which the map 900 is transitioned within the map-displayapplication 901 may be animated to mimic real travel conditions. Forexample, the transitioning effect may be halted briefly when the path920 b passes through a stop-sign or traffic light, etc.

Throughout the transitioning effects described in FIGS. 9B and 9C,information displayed in the OVIs may be updated in real time. Forexample, referring to FIG. 9C, as the map 900 transitions left,simulating the user traveling right along the path 920 b (i.e. away fromthe location marker 902), the OVI “2” 912 b may display a changeddirection, increased distance and increased travel-time with respect tothe location marker “2” 902 the OVI “2” 912 b is referencing. Likewise,the OVI “1” 904 b may display a changed direction, decreased distanceand decreased travel-time with respect to the location marker “1” 906the OVI “1” 904 b is referencing.

Please note that in these examples, the travel-time change may beaffected by real-time road conditions, as well as the decreaseddistance. In addition, please note that a map said to be traveling in acertain direction is a figure of speech-one may imagine the map beingstatic and the map-display application shifting its view of the mapcausing the region of the map displayed by the map-display applicationto transition.

Referring now to FIG. 9D, the transition may end when a new map-region910 c, containing the location marker “1” 906, is displayed in themap-display application 901. In the presently-preferred embodiment, themap-region 910 c may be selected from map 900 in such manner as tocenter around the location marker “1” 906. The location marker “2” 902,visible to the user in the map-region 910 a in FIG. 9A, may not bevisible to the user in the map-region 910 c. The location marker “2” 902may be referenced by an OVI “2” 912 c, providing the user with a visualindication of the distance from, direction to and travel-time to theinvisible location maker “2” 902.

Referring now to FIG. 9E, in another embodiment, the user may be shown asimulation of travel from a visible location marker in a map-region, toan invisible location marker referenced by an OVI, and back to theoriginal map-region showing the original location marker. For example,in a “glance mode”, a region of a map, containing one or more locationmarkers, may be visible to the user through a map-display application.Also displayed by the map-display application may be one or more OVIsreferencing location markers outside the visible region of the map. Theuser may select one of the OVIs, in response to which the map mayautomatically transition within the map-display application, shiftingthe view of the map towards the location marker referenced by theselected OVI, and, after a possible short pause, transitioning the mapin reverse back to the original view. One of the advantages of thisembodiment is in giving the user a quick perspective on where anotherremote location marker is and how to get there, without permanentlydeviating from the current map view.

In this example, three phases of a map-display application are shown: afirst phase where a first location marker is visible and a secondlocation marker is not visible, and is referenced by an OVI; a secondphase where neither location marker is visible and both location markersare visible by OVI; and a third phase where the first location marker isnot visible and is referenced by an OVI, while the second locationmarker is visible. Please note that these three phases represent threearbitrary points in the transition of a map through a map-displayapplication, and in a real-life implementation the transition mayinvolve hundreds of phases, creating the illusion of a smooth, animatedpanning of a map along a travel route. In addition, please note that inthis example the “travel direction” of the map is linear, whereas inother embodiments the map may transition along a travel route followingstreets and roads.

In the first phase, a map-display application 950 a may display amap-region 952 a of a map 940. The map 940 may not be visible to theuser other than its map-region 952 a, visible through the map-displayapplication 950 a. The map-region 952 a may include a location marker“2” 962, visible to the user. The map-region 952 a may include an OVI“1” 964, referencing a location marker “1” 968, not visible to the userthrough the map-display application 950 a.

In response to a user's selecting the OVI “1” 964, an automaticmap-display animation sequence may take place. The transition in theanimation sequence may include one or more in-between map regions. Inthe second phase, the map-display application is designated 950 b andmay include a different region of the map 940, designated as amap-region 952 b. The map-region 952 b may include OVIs referencing thelocation markers 962 and 968, not visible in the map-region 952 b.

The third phase may illustrate the final state of the map-displayapplication, designated as 950 c. The map-display application 950 b mayinclude a different region of the map 940, designated as a map-region952 c. The map-region 952 c may include an OVI “2” 966 referencing thelocation marker “2” 962, not visible in the map-region 952 c. At the endof the last phase (in this example the thirst phase) the animationsequence may reverse and the phases may be displayed in reverse order,with the last phase being the first phase where the map-displayapplication was designated 950 a and displayed the map-region designated952 a.

In an alternate embodiment, a short pause may follow the last phase,prior to the animation sequence being traversed in reverse order. Inanother alternate embodiment, no reverse traversing of phases may takeplace. For example, upon reaching the last phase a short pause may takeplace, in the original map-region may be displayed in the map-displayapplication.

While the invention has been described herein with reference to certainpreferred embodiments, these embodiments have been presented by way ofexample only, and not to limit the scope of the invention. Accordingly,the scope of the invention should be defined only in accordance with theclaims that follow.

1. A method for displaying object vector indicators (“OVI”) referencingsocial-network map-objects (“MO”) on an electronic map, comprising:providing an electronic device having a map-display application that iscoupled to a mapping service, a social-network and a display fordisplaying a selected area of the electronic map; authenticating to thesocial network; obtaining from the social network the MO; determiningthat coordinates of the MO are not within the selected area of theelectronic map; computing distance and travel-related information from alocation within the selected area of the electronic map to the MO;computing a placement position of an OVI referencing the MO on themap-display application; creating the OVI containing the distance andtravel-related information; displaying the OVI on the display at thecomputed placement position; receiving user input selecting the OVI;displaying a secondary area of the electronic map, wherein the secondaryarea is a region of the electronic map centered approximately around theMO; and displaying the MO approximately at the center of the secondaryarea.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location within the selectedarea of the electronic map is the center of the selected area of theelectronic map.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location withinthe selected area of the electronic map is a location marker.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the location marker is retrieved from thesocial network.
 5. The method of claim 4, further including retrievingfrom the social network location information associated with a user ofthe social network, wherein the location market is related to theretrieved location information.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thecomputing the placement position of the OVI step is repeated in responseto a change in the position of the MO.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe computing the placement position of the OVI step is repeated inresponse to a change in the position of the electronic device.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the computing the distance-and-travelinformation includes at least one of the following: an aerial distanceto the MO, a travel distance to the MO, a visual indicator pointing inthe direction of the MO, and an estimated travel-time to the MO.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the travel-distance to the MO is computed byselecting a travel route according to various user preferences andtravel-route selection algorithms.
 10. The method of claim 8, whereinthe estimated travel-time to the MO is computed by selecting a travelroute according to various user preferences and travel-route selectionalgorithms.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the received user inputis result of the user touching the display at a location of the displayapproximately corresponding to the OVI displayed.
 12. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the computing distance-and-travel information step isrepeated in response to a change in the position of the electronicdevice.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the computingdistance-and-travel information step is repeated in response to a changein the position of the MO obtained from the social network.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the computing distance-and-travel informationstep and the computing the placement position of the OVI step arerepeated in response to a change in travel conditions.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the computing distance-and-travel information stepfurther comprises: obtaining position of the electronic device;transmitting the position of the electronic device to a remote server;and receiving from the remote server the distance-and-travelinformation.
 16. The method of claim 1, further including: computingdistance and travel-related information from the OVI to the selectedarea of the electronic map; computing a placement position of a secondOVI referencing the selected area of the electronic map; creating thesecond OVI including the distance and travel-related information;displaying the second OVI on the display at the computed placementposition.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is aGPS-enabled navigation unit.
 18. A method of panning asocial-network-based electronic map, comprising: authenticating to asocial network; requesting a list of map objects (“MOs”) from the socialnetwork; receiving the list of MOs from the social network; determiningthe geographic coordinates of the MOs; and determining that the MOs areoutside bounds of a first area of the map visible to a user; creating anobject vector indicator (“OVI”) for each of the MOs; displaying the OVIson the electronic map; receiving user input selecting one of the OVIs;determining one of the MOs referenced by the selected OVI; panning theelectronic map to display a secondary area of the map, wherein thesecondary area is a region of the electronic map encompassing thedetermined one of the MOs; and wherein the determined one of the MOs isapproximately at the center of the secondary area.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, further comprising animating the panning transition of theelectronic map from displaying the first area to displaying thesecondary area, wherein the animation includes the steps of a. defininga number of animation steps; b. defining a time delay; c. defining asmall travel distance; d. determining a path between the determined oneof the MOs and an approximate center of the first area of the map; e.panning the map by the small travel distance in the direction of thedetermined one of the MOs; f. waiting an amount of time specified by thetime delay; wherein the steps e-f are repeated until the determined oneof the MOs is approximately at the center of the displayed secondarymap.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein creating an OVI includescalculating a distance, a direction and a travel time from a point inthe first area of the map to the location of the MO.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the point in the first area of the map corresponds tothe location of the electronic device.
 22. The method of claim 18,wherein the step of panning the map by a small interval furtherincludes: defining a travel route; and panning the map along the definedtravel route.
 23. A method for creating and displaying an object vectorindicator (“OVI”) on an electronic map of a global navigation system(“GPS”) device, connected to a social network, comprising: a) providingthe GPS device having a map display application that is coupled to thesocial network and a display for displaying a portion of the electronicmap; b) receiving coordinates of the GPS device; c) receivinginformation on a map-object (“MO”); d) determining coordinates of the MOfrom the received information; e) determining a range of coordinatesinclusive of the displayed portion of the electronic map; f) calculatingthat the coordinates of the MO are not within the range of coordinatesof the displayed portion of the electronic map; g) creating the OVI toreference the MO; h) calculating the placement of the OVI on thedisplay; i) displaying the OVI on the display; j) receiving user inputselecting the OVI; and k) panning the electronic map such that the MO isdisplayed approximately at the center of the electronic map.
 24. Themethod of claim 23, wherein the step of creating the OVI includes:calculating the direction, distance and travel-time from the position ofthe electronic device to the MO; and including the calculated data inthe OVI.
 25. The method of claim 23, further comprising: changing atleast one of GPS coordinates of the GPS device; MO information; azoom-level of the electronic map.
 26. The method of claim 23, whereinthe social network is capable of providing mapping information.